Why Didn't I Say It?
by Insane Winged Girl
Summary: Max is regretting something big. Why didn't she say it then, when she had a chance? Humiliation? No. Someting else... FAX NUDGY
1. Chapter 1

_I had been laughing harder than I had in a long time. It was nearly one in the morning, according to my watch, which was okay, not very accurate, but whatever. The point is, I was with Fang. I had felt my…crush on him dwindle lately, and I felt bad, for some reason, like I was being disloyal. But, it's not like I was running to Ari, or anything, so I don't know why I felt that way. He would still be my best friend, through thick and thin, though, and that's what mattered to me the most. I opened my mouth to say something, but he beat me to it. _

"_This isn't right, Max," he said quietly._

"_I know. I feel it too."_

"_This wasn't meant to be."_

"_I know."_

_I sank into a silent stupor. So he felt the same. That was good, very good. The Voice was right, for once in its life, programmed or not. We couldn't be together in that sense, we just couldn't. Even if we were, what if we had a kid together? How would we _

_a) Take care of it?_

_b) Make sure I gave birth safely?_

_c) Keep Erasers away from it?_

_We couldn't. We just couldn't. What if the Erasers killed one of us, or both of us? What would it do then? Hopefully it would still have the Flock, but having friends is different then having parents. Knowing Life, Lady Fortune, whatever you want to call it, nothing would go right. Life wasn't really fair to us mutant kids. Sure, it helped us along at times, but Life gave the powerful cards to the other side. _

_Fang was watching me; I could feel his eyes on me. I looked up from the dirt where I was staring as if mesmerized, _

"_Friends?" asked Fang, and I saw a slight smile flit across his face before it disappeared. _

"_Forever." I said,_

_Placing my right hand in his outstretched one and shaking it. 'Forever' I repeated in my mind. 'Forever'._

"**You'll never hold to that, Max, and you know it."**

"Shut up, Voice. I'm feeling good right now, so just shut up and I'll be happy."

_I knew that word, 'Forever' would etch itself into my mind, flawlessly, for the rest of my life. I was right, I just didn't mean what I'd though it would. _

_Everything began to swirl, blackness enveloping our still joined hands, and I woke in cold sweat._

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I splashed cold water on my face, my chest still heaving. I'd had The Dream again. The one after Itex, where the Flock is asleep and Fang and I are alone. It sucks, having to relive the one moment in your life that, if you could, you'd say something much different. Such as, 'I love you'. What would he have said in response to that? I sighed, and decided to turn on the shower, since the Flock was deep enough in sleep that an elephant stampede wouldn't wake them. We shared a room in a hotel, not the Twilight Inn, in case you were wondering. I'm never going back there. And no, it wasn't Fang and me alone. The whole Flock was together, in one room. Nudge, Angel, Gazzy and Total had the bed, while Fang Iggy and I had gotten a few extra blankets and crashed on the floor. Well, I'd taken a chair in the corner, since the guys had no interest in it. It was actually moderately comfortable, especially considering I'd spent much of my life sleeping in a cage. I stepped into the cold water, noticing that it had one of those million year old moldy vinyl shower curtains. But at least it _had_ a shower curtain. The last place we'd slept didn't even have one. I washed my hair with one of those little plastic soap things, you know, that they put there for people who don't have any soap. Then I wrapped myself in a towel which was once white. I was hesitant to wrap that disgusting thing around me. Now, just to let you know, I wasn't being picky here. I swear, it looked about fifteen years old, it was small, and it was nearly gray. It wasn't the nicest thing ever.

I was reading when the Flock woke up. I'd found a paper back wedged in between the chair and the wall. It was a mushy romance type book, but whatever. It would pass time. Iggy and Nudge woke up first. I noticed that their internal clocks seemed to work together now; they woke up at almost the exact same time every day now. Nudge slid out from under the blanket, in her shorts and T shirt. Fang got up a minute after them.

"I've got dibs on the shower," said Nudge.

Angel woke up then, and poked Gazzy in the side until he opened his eyes.

"Max, since this is the last day here, can we swim?" asked Angel.

"Yeah! I wanna go!" said Gazzy loudly, pushing aside the yucky yellow and green patterned blanket on the bed.

"What? Does this place even have a pool?" I asked confusedly.

"Yes!"

"Fine then. Sure. But I'm not going. Ask Fang."

"What?" asked Fang. He looked at me. "I hate water, remember?"

"Okay, then ask Ig. He'll go, as long as Nudge comes." I said slyly.

Nudge opened the bathroom door then, steam filtering out through it. "What?" she asked, as Iggy looked towards the sound of her voice. "What's going on?"

"Nudge, you Ig, Angel and Gazzy are going to the pool." I said. This is how I ended up alone with Fang. Purely unintentionally, I swear. I really don't feel all that comfortable alone near him.

"Uh…maybe I'd better go with them," I said lamely.

"Nudge can see them, and Iggy can hear them. They'll be okay. You should get some sleep. You've been up at like four AM the past few days. Early, even for you."

"How do you know?" I asked, again, lamely.

"I heard you this morning."

"Fine." I curled up on my chair again. "Fang?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever say something you regretted, something you wished you'd said differently at the time?"

A long pause.

"Yeah, I did."

"What was it?" I asked.

"I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"I just can't. It'd be wrong. Can you tell me what you regret?"

I didn't say anything.

"Exactly."


	2. Chapter 2

I sat up, feeling very uncomfortable; my head hurt, and my shoulders were killing me. My shoulders, because I'd been leaning on the chair rail.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked blearily.

"Fifteen minutes, more or less."

So the Flock was still at the pool.

My head hurt so bad, like a knife being driven through my skull. My temples were throbbing, and I was sure it was visible. I knew my head-ache was coming on, big time. I moaned a tiny bit, even as I tried to be silent. If Fang were a normal human, he wouldn't have heard anything. Too bad he's not normal, even for an avian-human hybrid; even though I could barely hear myself let out a pathetic whimper, he could hear it loud and clear.

"Max, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said, my lie unfortunately given away by the slight twisting to my face.

"Max, I know you too well."

"Fang, it's _nothing_! I'm okay-" I felt the burst of pain before I could finish my sentence. "Ah!"

"Max!"

I snatched my head in my hands, and sunk low to the ground, in between the chair I'd slept on, and the adjoining window. I pushed my body into the corner, and turned away from the room at large. Fang was next to me, trying to comfort me. I was screaming even as I tried to keep my mouth shut; if anyone heard me screaming and Fang yelling my name, we'd be in big trouble.

"Hey! You kids okay in there?!" Someone yelling through the door.

I snatched a pillow off the chair and pressed my face into it, to muffle my screams.

"We're fine!" Fang yelled through the door.

I tightened my body into a ball, my head in my hands and the pillow still against my face. I lost control of my wings for a second, and they flew away from my body just as I felt the pain receding. I heard the glass shattering, and Fang swearing under his breath.

"Max, the window!" Crap.

My headache vanished, as if it had just been waiting for me to hit that window.

"_**What else would I do that for, Max? Joy?"**_

"_What does me breaking a window have to do with my 'destiny'?" _I hissed at the Voice. If it hadn't been in side my own head, I would have strangled it.

"I can't pull my wing in!" I said out loud to Fang.

"We're coming in!" Some other ding-bat yelling through the door.

"No! We're fine!" Fang and I both yelled at the same time.

"What was all the yelling?" Said still another person.

"GO AWAY!" We yelled together.

"We're forcing the door!" A new voice, this one sounding authoritive.

I heard the handle start to jiggle. An idea popped into my head, and I tore one of the curtains from the window. They had been flapping aimlessly.

"Fang, don't you dare look." I said, and slipped out of my shirt.

I turned as red as the curtain. Even with Fang's _back_ to me, I didn't want to be without a shirt in the same room as him.

I wrapped the curtain around my chest, my (thank God) black bra straps visible. I threw my shirt over next to the bed, on the far side of me. I snatched Fang's hand and placed it firmly on my waist. I was still blushing like mad, and I hoped the color could be taken as anger from whoever opened that door.

"Just play along," I hissed, and Fang hesitantly held me.

"Why are you wearing the curtain?" he asked me, a smile playing over his face as he teased me.

"Shut up," I said, smiling.

Then I stood there and tried to look irritated.

The door opened, and two people came in the room.

"What's going on?" said one of them, a tall bony looking woman with her hair in curlers, and her apparent husband, a short man who was balding slightly.

"Excuse me! What gives you the right to force our room open?" I asked fiercely, praying that attack really _was_ the best form of defense.

"Well, we heard screaming, and we thought maybe we should make sure you were…" The man trailed off as I glared at them.

I tried not to think about how funny I looked, wearing a curtain with Fang's arm around me. I really hoped we looked like a disturbed couple. With the curtain around me, I hoped they would think they'd interrupted us. Especially since my T shirt was by the bed, and I was coincidently wearing my only lacy black bra.

"What screaming?" I growled.

"The screaming…"

"Are you mental?" I asked sweetly. "Go away."

"What about the window?"

"The window was broken when we got here. We got a discount on the room 'cause of that." I said, not really lying. Angel could tell the hotel staff the same story, with a sprinkle of 'witch craft', and we'd be okay. Plus, our room would cost less, which was always a good thing.

"Okay, well, if you're sure you don't need any help…"

"No, thank you."

They backed off, and I closed the door behind them.

"Thank God that worked." I said.

I went and got my shirt, putting it on and leaving my left wing out and hanging limply, the one that'd hit the window. Then I sighed, re-attaching the curtain. I was still sort of shivering. Fang had been holding, me, almost like we _were _a couple.

"Max?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Why did that feel so right?" he asked, staring at his shoes. That was the closest I'd ever seen him to being embarrassed.

I turned and looked at him. "Why did what feel so right?"

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_**Should I make them a couple for real in the next chapter, or should I stretch it out a while longer? I think I might stretch it out. That way they can be secretly pining for each other. FYI, I suck at holding back when I am writing romance, because I always want the two in question to end up immediately together. I'm just a hopeless romantic, so don't mind me. **_

_**Please inform me of any typos, because I haven't had a chance to re-read it yet! Thank you.**_

_**-Broken Hearted Poet **_


	3. Chapter 3

"Never mind."

"Fang…okay," I said.

Did he mean what I thought he meant?

"Why'd you give up so easily?" he asked skeptically.

I opened my mouth, but was fortunately saved by the rushed entrance of the rest of the Flock.

"Max! What the heck is going on?!" asked Iggy.

"We heard you screaming, and Fang was yelling your name, and we thought you were having another brain attack, and what did the Voice say? Are you okay? What happened? We heard other voices, too? How'd you get them to leave? And, Max, - You're bleeding!" cried Nudge breathlessly.

Fang looked sharply at me. More accurately, my wings.

"God, I can't believe I didn't notice that." He growled at himself under his breath. I guess he thought I couldn't hear him, or something.

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch." I said.

I didn't realize until after I said that, and I felt a strange sharp twinging pain in my right wing that I was lying. Then I remembered that Fang had said the same thing when Ari'd clawed his side. And look what'd happened then.

"Okay, sure. Maybe I'm not fine." I said lamely. I went to the bathroom, leaving the Flock behind, and turned on the shower.

I stood under the heat, the water steaming down my bloody feathers, and tried to figure out what Fang was going to say. What did he mean?

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_**Sorry it's so short. I won't be able to get on for a while, and I hope you all don't desert me because of it! **__****__** Click the pretty little review button…Please?**_

_**-Insane Winged Girl**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all. Oh, wait! I own – no, that's my parents'. Ah! I own Maximum – no, I don't. It belongs to JP.**

_Important note:_

_Thanks to X111 Dragon, I have remembered to put a disclaimer on my fiction._

_Cheers to you, X111 Dragon, and thank you for the reminder!_

_But I have a very important question for any and everybody. How come we need disclaimers in the first place? I mean, this IS a FAN FICTION site, correct? Shouldn't it be totally and completely obvious that none of us out here own the books/whatever we're writing fan fiction for? I mean, if we owned it, wouldn't we be writing the next book rather than writing fan fiction about it? Sorry, just had to get that off my chest._

_Anyway, here's chapter four:_

Fang's POV:

I pushed her away. 'No.' I thought to her, staring her down. Her six-year-old eyes continued to bore into mine, and her mind kept trying to gain entrance to my thoughts. She wasn't the least bit subtle about it, either. I mean, with Max and the others, she did it quietly and unobtrusively, but with me, she just pushed. I frustrated her, because she couldn't read my mind. The Whitecoats had taught me in the School, for their own unrecognizable reasons, how to block Angel from my thoughts.

'Come on, Fang' she wheedled in my mind, pushing and shoving to gain entrance.

'What do you want?' I asked her, growling and shoving back.

The Flock was watching us stare each other down. They always thought Angel was saying something, and I was disagreeing, or that we were staring each other down for the pure joy of it, I don't know. But I do know that they never guessed Angel couldn't get specific thoughts from me. I let her have my emotions, sometimes, so the others wouldn't think she couldn't do it to me, but she never got anything with a meaning to it. I couldn't imagine what she would have done if she had gotten any of my real thoughts. I knew mine were darker and deadlier than the rest of the Flock knew, because of what went on in my mind. What played in my mind wasn't right, at all.

'Come on, Fang? I got into Max, and she was thinking about the curtain. I already know. So what do you think?'

'Angel, no. For the last time, stop. You won't get anywhere.' I thought back to her, letting only that thought escape the wall I had learned to build in between her and my thoughts.

I turned away, and kept my thoughts to myself, in my mind alone.

Max's POV:

I came out of the bathroom, my hair dripping down my back, staining the shoulders of my shirt with water.

"You've been in there for nearly half an hour. Were you trying to drown yourself?" asked Iggy.

"No." I saw Fang staring Angel down, and her eyes locked with his.

"What's up?" I asked.

They both ignored me, almost as if they couldn't hear a word I was saying.

I sighed, and looked at Nudge. "Can you come here for a second?" I asked her.

She got up off of the floor. She'd been leaning on Iggy's legs, and he was sitting in the chair I'd spent the night in.

"Sure, Max." She followed me into the bathroom, and I closed the door.

"Will you look at my wings? I want to make sure I'm not still bleeding or anything." I said.

She giggled. "Why not Fang?"

"Shut up. We're only friends." I said grumpily.

"That's what I said about Iggy, until a while ago." She said, her eyes still teasing me.

"Shut up." I repeated.

"Okay, okay…you're obviously a bit touchy about that…"

She combed her fingers through my feathers, examining my wings closely. After a minute, she said "They look okay. What happened, anyway?"

"I busted a window."

"I know that, but why did you break it? And what's with Fang?"

"Brain attack, I have no idea. Thank you." I said, hoping she'd take the hint and skedaddle her way out of the bathroom.

She did.

I can't believe I stooped this low, but I decided to ask the Voice for help.

"_Voice, you got anything?" _I asked.

"_**Are you asking for help, Maximum? I am shocked."**_

"_Whatever. My point is what should my next move be?"_

"_**Why don't you ask your second in command?"**_

"_What is with you people? Why are all the people I know in the whole freaking world asking me about Fang?!" _I screamed in my head.

"_**Because it is painfully obvious that you are ignoring your feelings and better judgment. I would have expected better of you, Maximum. Fang is doing the same, but he is being dense in the typical male fashion."**_

"_Don't insult him!"_

"_**You see what I mean?"**_

"_No. I absolutely refuse to see what you mean. We are friends. That's final, okay?"_

"_**No, Maximum. It isn't. If you and Fang do not get together the –"**_It stopped talking abruptly.

"_I thought you didn't want us together?"_

"_**That was then, Maximum. This is now." **_ It said tiredly, as if explaining something blatantly obvious.

"_You're right, Voice. This is now. But this is also my own life, and I will make my own decisions. It's enough to be pressed to save the world. I don't want you telling me who I should love and who I shouldn't. If I love Fang, I'll find out on my own."_

"_**If you don't tell him now, you will regret it for the rest of your life."**_

"_You know what, Voice? You can just –" _I stopped. You never know when your resident mind reader might be listening in. I took a deep breath then said

"_You know, maybe I'll call Destiny. I bet he's hot."_

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Thank you, thank you! I don't know where this is leading, but I am making the Voice as twisted and confusing as possible. Is it working?

-Insane Winged Girl


	5. Chapter 5

_Hi every one! It's me, the insane person again. Anyways, I hope this is where the action/adventure bit comes in. It should get exiting now, so blah blah blah blah blah…_

_I guess you want to read it now, huh?_

**Disclaimer: I own squat, okay? Get it through your head. Nothing, nada. Zip. Zilch. Continues saying 'nothing' in every way she can think of**

Chapter Five:

"Fang, you got any ideas?" I asked.

All eyes were on me, fixed and tense. I'd just told them that we had to leave, and I didn't know where we were going. Maximum Ride the great just admitted she didn't know what to do, to someone _other _than Fang, who by the way, I. Do. Not. Have. A. Crush. On. This is final, comprende? Whatever. The point is we had to get out. The hotel people were on to us, and by 'on to us' I mean:

They were beginning to suspect that we were NOT over eighteen (meaning able to drive and legally buy a room there). Gee, it takes a lot of brains to figure _that_ one out.

Angel hadn't brainwashed them yet, so they were freaking about the window, and

We were all getting really, really tired of sleeping under a roof. The night sky

grows on a person, okay?

Fang closed his eyes for a minute. I watched him. Nudge said something to Iggy about the places she'd want to go if we could just go anywhere at all. Angel tried to figure out where I thought we should go by mind reading. Gazzy scratched Total behind his ears.

"California." That was Fang.

"Why?" I asked.

"The lion's den. It's the last place the Erasers will suspect." He explained.

"Well…"

"_Voice?"_

"_**Twice in two days, Maximum. Frankly, I might suspect you were beginning to trust me."**_

"_If you didn't know better."_

"_**If I didn't know better." **_ It agreed.

"_So?"_

"_**Fang knows what he's doing."**_

"_I thought you said he was 'dense in the typical male fashion'?"_

"_**Only in the romantic sense."**_

"_Whatever. So you think we should do it?"_

"_**Yes, Maximum, I do."**_

"_Well, as long as you think we should…" _I said sarcastically.

"_**You did ask for my advice, Max."**_

"Let's do it." I said out loud.

_**An hour later: **_

We were flying and breathing in the cool night air. I took a deep breath. It smelled good, even when it was polluted like it was over Phoenix, AZ. Phoenix, Arizona… the name was familiar. Why? I dug around in my backpack looking for some food to share with the Flock; keep our energy up. When I stuck my hand down into the front pocket and found a crumpled piece of paper, I pulled it out curiously.

It was yellow-y, and had those blue/green lines on it to write on. It was rolled up and folded and just plain crumpled. Why did it look familiar? Like Arizona… I opened it and read the curly miniscule handwriting on the inside:

Max,

We will always be here for you.

Ella and Dr. Martinez

(480) 239-6571

Duh. The Martinez girls. I should visit them. I could call them right now…

"Yo."

I looked up. "Yeah, Fang?"

"What's that?"

"It has a phone number on it. From Dr. Martinez and Ella." Too late, I remembered that I hadn't told him how I'd gotten shot and Dr. Martinez just happened to be a vet and all that. After all, I knew he would have killed me for putting myself in that situation, and I didn't want to die. Why, I'm not quite sure. I mean, it's not like there's much to look forward to in my life or anything.

"Who?"

"Um… that girl I saw when we were trying to rescue Angel. And her mother."

"What aren't you telling me?"

"I'm not not telling you anything. Look! A pay phone!"

"A _pay phone_?"

"Yeah. I'm going to call them. Right now. Keep going in the direction of Lake Mead, and I'll catch up in a minute, okay?"

"No, Max." said Nudge, who'd been listening in to our conversation. "We're all staying together, and that's final. We are not going to separate again. What if you get attacked? What if Ari finds you alone? What if you get hurt and we can't find you, _again_? What if we can't stay at Lake Mead? What if - mghphn - ?" I covered her mouth with my hand, and then saw Iggy cock his head to the left. I saw Angel clench her fists and Fang's jaw line tighten. Then Erasers came pouring out of everywhere.

I spun and attacked the first Eraser I saw.

I aimed an uppercut into an Eraser's chin, hearing something crack, and then while the Eraser clutched at its chin, I kicked it hard in the thigh. Believe me, that hurt. As it doubled over, I popped its eardrums and it fell. That one wouldn't be getting up for a while. I turned to catch a blow from another Eraser. I didn't have time to play around, so I brought my hand onto its throat, and when it started coughing I knocked it out.

"Max!"

I whirled around, ducking as I saw a clawed Eraser paw come flying towards my head. I leaned back on my hands; bending my elbows and balancing only on my hands, lifting my feet in the air and kicked the Eraser back from me, and then jumped up again. Cool. I swung at the Eraser as it stupidly charged me again. Then in the midst of the Eraser battle, the Flock facing outward in a circle, fighting, their faces mean and tough, something unexpected happened.

Yeah, unexpected. We were fighting half bird half wolf half human…things, our wings were out and pumping to keep us aloft, and everyone was running and screaming and bleeding, and I said something _unexpected_ happened.What had our life come to?


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: If you people haven't noticed yet, I. Don't. Own. Max. Ride. Alright? **_

_Okay, _now_ we're getting into the action… hopefully._

Chapter Six:

I guess you want to know what the unexpected thing was, huh? Well, Fang touched my arm. Yeah, yeah, I know, terrifying and all that, but it wasn't just that Fang touched me. It was just that I'd seen him at least ten feet away about a second ago.

"What the –?" I began, but he put his hand up.

And then I realized why he was looking slightly freaked. I realized that none of the Erasers were attacking me, and in fact… nothing was moving. The Flock was frozen, the Erasers were still growling, there lips held up in an eternal snarl. Nothing was moving.

At all.

The rain was even stuck, beginning to fall still fifteen feet over our heads.

Time… as stupid as this sounds… time was frozen.

"Oh my god." I said. "What is happening?"

"I've got no freaking clue." Said Fang. "I was fighting over there," he pointed a few yards away. "when the Eraser I was fighting just…froze. Stock still. I looked around, and everyone was frozen. I touched your arm to wake you, and it worked."

"So, did you like, freeze time, or something?"

"I don't know. I don't know if it was me."

I heard a sound behind me, and spun around. There was a small hooded figure standing there, its shoulders hunched over, its head bowed.

"It was you, Fang. Your power."

"Who are you?" I growled at it. I had a feeling it was female.

I felt Fang bristle beside me, and I tightened all of my muscles, ready to spring into the air at a moment's notice.

"Me? I can't tell you that. But I know who you are. You are Max. Maximum Ride. Standing next to you is Fang. He is your, um, 'right hand man'."

I opened my mouth to ask her something.

"No, Max. I'm not from the School." She gave a sort of snarling, choking laugh. "Like they would take me, even if I had any desire to go."

"Why are you here?" Fang spoke to her for the first time.

"I – I'm here for you. You need me, or I wouldn't be here. But you'd better hurry. I'm fading."  
"What do you mean, you're fading?"

"I mean something in my past, in your 'here and now' is changing."

"So you're from the future?" I asked.

"Yes, I am."

Funny how things like this barely surprise me anymore. I mean, okay, having someone show up from the future was unexpected, but I didn't, like, have a heart attack or anything. Weird, how much you can take when your whole life sounds like a sci-fi / fantasy book.

"Why are you wearing a hood?"

"It is raining."

"Time is frozen, remember?"

"Not for long. But I suppose I owe you this much." She lowered her hood, raising her head, standing up straight and opening her wings in one fluid motion. I almost gasped. Fang's eyes were slightly wider than usual, meaning he was shocked beyond comprehension.

Her hair was dark and fell a bit past her shoulders. Her eyes were black and emotionless. She was tall and dark and skinny. She was a carbon copy of Fang, except she was female. And one other thing. Her wings were tan with white streaks and dark brown spots.

Like mine.

Leading us to only one conclusion.

"Do what you know is right…" she said and sort of morphed into mist and swirled away into the wind.

Then time stared up again, and Fang and I were in the midst of a battle…

TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE:

Fang's POV:

I ducked under a swinging paw, kicking out at the owner of the claws. I heard a thump as it hit the ground.

"Why do you and your little friends always pick a fight with the big kids?" I growled.

I swung at it again, and then I knew that, for the moment, it was out for the count.

I turned and looked for another Eraser, when I realized nothing was moving. Like they were all waiting for something important. I straightened up and looked around. This was getting stranger by the minute. Like, the rain above my head was suspended, glistening and trying to fall, but totally weightless.

But if time was stopped… why could I still move? Whatever.

I ran over to Angel. She was standing to my right, her eyes laughing as an Eraser chased its tail. Nudge had her fists up, and seemed to be in the process of telling Iggy something. Iggy had on of his legs up against the chest of an Eraser, kicking it backwards. Gazzy was in the air, his wings half open, like he'd been jumping and preparing to fly.

I didn't see Max right away, but then I noticed her, hidden from my view behind an Eraser, her fists up, one out in the direction of an Eraser, who was stumbling back. The Eraser was on one foot, about to fall, and its head was turned away, blood flying from its muzzle. The blood droplets were actually hanging there, kind of brownish red. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I touched one, and it commenced traveling back, flying and finally splatting with a sound like a rain drop. So if I touched something, it was pulled out of this time freeze? Okay. I touched Max's arm, and she continued swinging.

"What the - ?" She started to ask, but I held up my hand. She looked around.

Things in our life were getting weirder by the second.

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_**Well?**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I solemnly swear (that I am up to no good. Sorry, couldn't resist) that I DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE.**

_Thank you to all of my reviewers. I now have over fifty reviews. I can't believe it! Thank you very much, all of you reviewers out there!_

_Also:_

_Sorry if I sound stupid, but will someone inform me on the meaning of 'OOC'? I've seen that on here a few times, and I don't get it. It is probably blatantly obvious, but whatever. Thanks!_

Chapter Seven:

So, the Erasers left. They just… left. I don't know why, but they did. I mean, we kept fighting them, and then they just turned around and left. And I was perfectly okay with that.

"Come on! Let's get a fire going!" I called quietly to the Flock. We were too close to a neighborhood complex to really yell. For some reason, these people had built their homes in a pecan grove. But we had found a thick little patch that looked abandoned, and set up camp there.

I watched Fang and Nudge disperse into the trees to get wood, while Iggy got out his lighter and Angel and Gazzy helped him clear the ground around where we were going to light the fire. I went traipsing through the trees, looking for stones to contain the fire with. I found a few by a river (a river?) and brought them back. By the time I got there, Nudge was back and Iggy was situating the wood. I put the stones in a circle and he lit the fire. After a few minutes, Fang still hadn't come back.

"I'm going to go look for him, okay? You guys stay here, and if you run into trouble, just yell. We'll find you."

I took off to find Fang, lightly walking through the trees as quickly as I could without making a sound.

"Max?" After a few minutes I heard his voice and I calmed down a little. I mean, I know Fang can take care of himself, but I still get worried about my Flock, okay?

"Fang?"

"What're you doing out here?"

"Looking for you." I said.

He had an arm full of relatively dry branches. "Okay."

Things were getting kind of awkward between us now. We were silent as we walked back to the Flock. I wanted us to be able to relax, be normal like we used to. But I wanted to know something even more.

"Fang? Can I ask you something?" I stopped and looked at him.

He stopped walking and I could tell he was busy wrenching himself away from his thoughts. "Yeah, Max?"

"Fang, do you… I mean how do you feel about – I mean… never mind."

_I know it's short, and I know you hate me now, but wait! I'm writing chapter eight. Right now. It'll be short, but I just couldn't resist breaking it off there. _

-**Insane Winged Girl**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **_**Wish I may, wish I might have this wish I wish tonight**_**… I wish I could claim Maximum Ride as my own writing… **

**Looks up and notices people watching her**** Well, if I have to wish, I DO NOT OWN IT. ****snaps loudly then bursts into tears**

_Okay, I like this chapter, and I think (hope) I put some fluff in here. Fluff is good. Fluff, fluff, fluffity-fluff… __Begins singing joyfully__ Sorry for this strange, strange mood I'm in…oh, wait! I'm happy! Romance does that to a girl… __Continues singing joyfully__ Well? Aren't you going to read my chapter? Oh, yeah, sure I have to give it to you first…__Said skeptically_

(Lovely, joyous beautiful) Chapter Eight:

"How do I feel about what?" I could tell he was curious.

I hesitated. "You know that promise we made? Well, I didn't mean it. And I really, really hope you didn't either." I said.

"What promise - Oh." That's it. Just 'Oh'.

"Fang, I'm - sorry." I said, and then I ran back to the Flock. Or I tried to, anyway. He grabbed me around the waist. Kind of surprising, actually. "Wait." He said quietly. Then he looked at me, and took a deep breath. I'd never seen Fang act like this; hesitate and flick his eyes around nervously. "Max, do you think that girl was…?"

He didn't have to finish his sentence. "Our daughter? Yes. I do." I said quietly, looking at my shoes, the sky, anywhere but his face. "I think she was fading because…"

"Because we were supposed to admit our feelings earlier." We were getting good at reading each others' minds.

"_**Come on, Maximum. Look at him. Be the Max he knows and loves."**_ The Voice urged.

I decided that for once it had good advice. I looked him in the eye, and he held my gaze. Then Fang put his hands on my shoulders. I kept looking at him. I actually had to look up pretty high to see him. He was still a few inches taller than me. My eyes kept flicking to his mouth. I wanted to kiss him, bad. I decided maybe I'd been in denial for a long time.

Maybe.

I guess he could tell. He gave me a flicker of a smile, and as soon as that happened, I couldn't hold myself back. I kind of jumped him, I think.

I instantly pulled away. I had a question first.

"Do you love me?" I asked. I knew now the answer I wanted.

I also knew that he might have a hard time admitting any feelings he might have. But Fang has surprised me before.

"I always have, Max."

It was strange, but just then I felt the sun shining over me, even though it was still cloudy from the recent rain. I felt warm and good inside.

"I love you too, you know." I said.

He smiled a little (wow, the second time in a few minutes! Maybe he's delirious…kidding) and traced my lips with his fingers.

A FEW MINUTES LATER:

When we came back to the Flock, camp was mostly set up and, oh yeah, one other thing. We were holding hands. We'd decided it would be easier than words. Angel kind of giggled a little, Gazzy looked confused, like his reality was turning Technicolor rather than the black and white he was used to. Nudge eyed our hands and smiled to herself, and Iggy, of course, didn't know anything was going on.

Fang whispered something to me. "Do you know what Fax is? On the blog, I mean?"

I shook my head.

"It's our names crossed."

"So in 'fangirl' talk, this would be 'Fax' right?"

"Exactly."

We kind of laughed.

"It's impolite to whisper." Said Iggy.

"Shh!" Nudge teased. "Let them whisper!"

Thank you, Nudge.

LATER THAT NIGHT:

Let me paint you a picture:

It's Iggy's watch. Fang and Maximum Ride (me) are awake, but everyone except Iggy is asleep. I think I like that picture…

We fell asleep under one blanket, me curled up into his chest, his hand stroking my hair.

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_Okay,_

_Don't go getting any ideas. I don't believe in pre-marital sex. They simply laid down together and fell asleep. Nothing like that happened. Besides, they're only fifteen. I did the whole curtain thing to get them out of a tight spot and into another, more romantic, tight spot…_

_I hope you liked this chapter. I was going to hold off longer but I couldn't help myself…_

- **Insane Winged Girl**


	9. Chapter 9

Hello, everybody. Sorry it took me so long, but I was a little busy, plus it took me freaking _years_ (okay, not really. But it sure felt like it, if you ask me) to get this figured out. Because, as you know, or don't yet know, I decided to wrap it up here. Yes. But not for good. I'm working on part two, if anyone cares.

_**Disclaimer: It's called a disclaimer for a reason, people. Get with the program, okay?**_

Chapter Nine:

I was lying under a blanket. A shared blanket. I was on my back, my hands clasped over my chest, staring at the stars. Fang was next to me, on his side, still asleep. It's been two weeks. Two weeks since I told him I loved him. Two weeks since he said what I'd hoped desperately that he would. He did love me. I was in love.

Hold up.

Why was I talking like this? Where was my kick-butt, I-don't-give-a-crap attitude? Cue throat clearing and shifty eyes.

_I freaking love Fang_. Anybody got anything to say about that? Cause if you do, just remember I can't be held responsible for any and all broken bones. Comprende?

That's better. Much more Max-y.

Then I got a little side tracked.

"Max?"

Okay, now I was more than a little side tracked.

"Yeah?"

"What's the matter?"

"There's nothing wrong, Fang."

"I know you too well. You're all tense."

"No I'm not."

"Max."

I just gave in. There was no point keeping anything from him, really. He'd know eventually, without my help anyway.

"Fang – I was just thinking, what are we going to do?"

He was silent. I wasn't done, and he probably didn't know what to say to that anyway.

"I mean," I continued, "How are we supposed to do anything together? Like, get married? How do we ever do that? Or what if… what if one night we take it too far? What if we end up with a kid? How are we supposed to do anything with Erasers on our tail 24/7?"

I think I kind of surprised him, dumping all that on him at one time. But I just wanted him to say something. Tell me everything would be fine, even if it never would be again.

He didn't do that. He didn't say much, just wrapped his arms around me and said, "I don't know, Max. I really don't know." Which really doesn't sound too reassuring, but, honestly, it was. We could take our time. We could cross that bridge when we came to it. We could…

Well, _I _ could kiss him, and hang on for whatever came next.

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So? You cool with the sort-of-ending? I'm writing chapter one of the next part right now, so I'll post soon.

-Insane Winged Girl


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